oc shooter
.223 Rem
lot of good stuff here and i appreciate all the input has anyone had any experience with the Forester co axial press
getting back into reloading
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oc shooter
.223 Rem
alistair
6.5 Creedmoor
I only reload 9mm and love my Dillon Square Deal.
I been using Forster Co-Ax for about 15 years. Best single stage press ever made. It's pricey but well worth the price. You have to use it to know why.
holdover
.475 A&M Magnum
I use the Redding turrent press with wilson dies , Wilson case trimmer, Ill be getting the arbor press sometime this year
Shoots100
.357 mag
I had one, but I load while sitting in a chair and the high top positioned handle isn't conducive for that, plus the priming system has a lot to be desired IMHO.
Forget about loading pistol rounds with it.
I sold it to a friend who loads a lot of magnum rifle cartridges and that press has more than enough leverage for his needs.
Acer-m14
20×102mm Vulcan
nope no way .. .. i got the reloading stuff .. you reload your own .. here is the books and data ... ask all the questions you want ..
i'll fire up the bbq .. your making your own
unless you have a OCD lady friend.. the best powder measure LOL .
Progressives are really meant to load either new brass, or properly prepared fired brass.
Pistol brass is generally hard to fuck up, but .45 ACP can end up bad.
Wilson Case length gages are a must to own for pistol brass to check for --"will it chamber" after resizing. I once had 300 acp rounds that did not chamber well.had to do them again..Lee progressive. I have a loose 45 acp barrlel that I keep at the bench to check each case right away for chambering.
Rifle brass.............I deprime on a Lee, resize in Forster or RCBS check in RCBS Precision mike for the caliber...I use HS gages for that caliber to zero the RCBS Precison mike so I know where the brass is getting resized to, in comparison to the HS gages.
I once sent out 5000 .223 brass for processing to a pro processor. 3000 came out .004 too long as I checked each in the mike--long tedious and had to resize them myself, but they were clean and shinny..had to clean them again. Brass that is exactly the size of the chamber or too long in a semi is dangerous...can generate a OOB discharge. Bolt tactions are more forgiving.
After sizing and checking trimming, cleaning primer crimps, I wet tumble.
Take a few minutes per case, but I produce safe brass......some times I anneal the brass that is ornery.
Dies can bend, get dirty..I clean the resizing die very 20 rounds with a brush to remove gorp, Brass can need annealing that does not size correctly for it gets work hardened
50,000 psi and OOB discharges can ruin you day with ammo that is too long or fat, and hangs up.
Zediker wrote two books on Reloading.
I have dies, gages, primers, presses, tumblers, annealer, dryer, powder dispensers, scales,.......... It is a hobby, but I try to do it right. Hope is a poor strategy in reloading..............Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles can use progressives, as they cannot see their mistakes anyway.
Pistol brass is generally hard to fuck up, but .45 ACP can end up bad.
Wilson Case length gages are a must to own for pistol brass to check for --"will it chamber" after resizing. I once had 300 acp rounds that did not chamber well.had to do them again..Lee progressive. I have a loose 45 acp barrlel that I keep at the bench to check each case right away for chambering.
Rifle brass.............I deprime on a Lee, resize in Forster or RCBS check in RCBS Precision mike for the caliber...I use HS gages for that caliber to zero the RCBS Precison mike so I know where the brass is getting resized to, in comparison to the HS gages.
I once sent out 5000 .223 brass for processing to a pro processor. 3000 came out .004 too long as I checked each in the mike--long tedious and had to resize them myself, but they were clean and shinny..had to clean them again. Brass that is exactly the size of the chamber or too long in a semi is dangerous...can generate a OOB discharge. Bolt tactions are more forgiving.
After sizing and checking trimming, cleaning primer crimps, I wet tumble.
Take a few minutes per case, but I produce safe brass......some times I anneal the brass that is ornery.
Dies can bend, get dirty..I clean the resizing die very 20 rounds with a brush to remove gorp, Brass can need annealing that does not size correctly for it gets work hardened
50,000 psi and OOB discharges can ruin you day with ammo that is too long or fat, and hangs up.
Zediker wrote two books on Reloading.
I have dies, gages, primers, presses, tumblers, annealer, dryer, powder dispensers, scales,.......... It is a hobby, but I try to do it right. Hope is a poor strategy in reloading..............Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles can use progressives, as they cannot see their mistakes anyway.
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oc shooter
.223 Rem
once had Stevei Wonder do some 223 for me thank God he can hear!
gun_slinger_boy
.338 Win Mag
What's the issue? I find 45 acp to be the easiest of my pistol calibers to load. Are you using the Lee factory crimp die? That thing is fantastic.
I didn't even know sending out your brass was a thing.
repete
.338 Win Mag
Say what? What the hell are you using for a handle that you bend a die? I'd like to see that.
Acer-m14
20×102mm Vulcan
the 45 is old school brimful of asha on the 45 .. LOL ..
gun_slinger_boy
.338 Win Mag
I'd like to see a die bent by any means!
Acer-m14
20×102mm Vulcan
seen broken de-capping pins lol
Read Zediker, PO Ackley's Handbooks for shooters..........dies can bend.
My 45acp disaster was unexpected...........when they do not chamber the case mouth is wrong. Lee Progressive.
I did them over in a single stage press and checked each in a wilson gage and a bbl..
Plenty of commercial reloaders are out there to process your fired brass. I hate doing .223 but am forced to do it due to shoddy resizing practices. Check everything. Factory ammo is a bargain.
My 45acp disaster was unexpected...........when they do not chamber the case mouth is wrong. Lee Progressive.
I did them over in a single stage press and checked each in a wilson gage and a bbl..
Plenty of commercial reloaders are out there to process your fired brass. I hate doing .223 but am forced to do it due to shoddy resizing practices. Check everything. Factory ammo is a bargain.
repete
.338 Win Mag
"dies can bend." Yeah, with a 40 ton press brake!
"Factory ammo is a bargain" Not so much, but it is a little better then a year ago but still no where near what I'd call a bargain. I can't remember the last time I bought ammo, just to damn $$$
"Factory ammo is a bargain" Not so much, but it is a little better then a year ago but still no where near what I'd call a bargain. I can't remember the last time I bought ammo, just to damn $$$
Shoots100
.357 mag
In my 40 plus years of loading everything from the 20 practical to the 50Bmg, I've never bent a die, even when I had to use a 4 foot crowbar on my Lee 50 Bmg press to extract a stuck once fired under lubed case.
I cracked the shell holder in the process and Lee sent me one for free.
Being I've loaded way over 200,000 rounds for my personnel use during the 37 years I've been reloading with progressive rifle, pistol and shotgun presses, I can say wholeheartedly that some progressive presses can and do work great and make very accurate + reliable ammo.
I couldn't compete in all of the shooting disciplines I partake in if I didn't load with progressive presses and cast my own bullets.
I started to cut down shooting comps in the last few years and only load an average 5,000 pistol, 1,000 rifle and 2,000 shotgun rounds a year, with the majority of them loaded on progressive presses.
Do you think they load factory ammo on single stage presses ?
While I prefer Lee single stage presses, in my humble opinion and after years of trying to make them work for others, their progressive presses stink.
I can crank out an easy 400 rounds per hour with my enhanced Dillon RL550 with case, bullet feeders and preloaded primer tubes.
I have friends that manufacture rifle and pistol ammo with commercial, fully automated 1050's and Mark 7's machines that can load over 2,500 rounds per hour.
Over the 15 years I helped load with direct, auto drive and manual powered progressive presses, I can say I've helped load millions of rifle and pistol rounds and have never seen a bent die, but have seen plenty of other die and machine parts fail.
Zedicker (God rest his soul) wasn't the only person to load ammo or write about it either, but if his guidance keeps you reloading and shooting, I'm all for it.
SJC
I cracked the shell holder in the process and Lee sent me one for free.
Being I've loaded way over 200,000 rounds for my personnel use during the 37 years I've been reloading with progressive rifle, pistol and shotgun presses, I can say wholeheartedly that some progressive presses can and do work great and make very accurate + reliable ammo.
I couldn't compete in all of the shooting disciplines I partake in if I didn't load with progressive presses and cast my own bullets.
I started to cut down shooting comps in the last few years and only load an average 5,000 pistol, 1,000 rifle and 2,000 shotgun rounds a year, with the majority of them loaded on progressive presses.
Do you think they load factory ammo on single stage presses ?
While I prefer Lee single stage presses, in my humble opinion and after years of trying to make them work for others, their progressive presses stink.
I can crank out an easy 400 rounds per hour with my enhanced Dillon RL550 with case, bullet feeders and preloaded primer tubes.
I have friends that manufacture rifle and pistol ammo with commercial, fully automated 1050's and Mark 7's machines that can load over 2,500 rounds per hour.
Over the 15 years I helped load with direct, auto drive and manual powered progressive presses, I can say I've helped load millions of rifle and pistol rounds and have never seen a bent die, but have seen plenty of other die and machine parts fail.
Zedicker (God rest his soul) wasn't the only person to load ammo or write about it either, but if his guidance keeps you reloading and shooting, I'm all for it.
SJC
repete
.338 Win Mag
I've never seen one in real life but thought the design was good and much stronger than most other presses, I don't need one of them but do want one!
It has a number of small advantages over a typical single stage press. Also you can run it faster than typical single stage press by switching hands and placing bins for brass on each side (not shown in the video). I sit on a bar stool while reloading, but regular chair can also be used.
I have a single stage RCBS from 1976 and a Lee Load Master.
The RCBS works great.
The Lee works great, I did modifications to the primer plate (opened up the cup area) and I can crank out rounds like the feds print money. Almost.
The RCBS works great.
The Lee works great, I did modifications to the primer plate (opened up the cup area) and I can crank out rounds like the feds print money. Almost.
Volume and time are serious considerations:
I use a Dillon 550 for multiple Pistol calibers. (although it will also do Rifle rounds)
A Redding T-6 Six hole turret press for churning out rifle rounds such as 30'06
The RCBS Rock Chucker for operations such as Resizing, De-Priming, Collet Pulling, etc.
And for .50 BMG and long rounds like Remington Ultra-Mag, I like using the Ammomaster. (it's a honk'n big press)
I de-prime all my cases using a Lee Universal Depriming die, then (usually) Pin Tumble, but sometimes I will use the vibratory tumbler, just depends...The Pins with Dawn & a little Lemme-Shine turn out MUCH nicer than dry media, but do require drying.
I prefer to lube and full length, small base resize all Rifle cases on the Rock Chucker, and I do this because I load for/from multiple Rifles, pistol rounds go through carbide dies and through a "Bulge Buster" die with semi-rimmed pistol rounds.
Rifle cases are trimmed, case mouths chamfered, flash holes reamed, etc. fully prepped & inspected, then they all go back through a wash in the pin tumbler.
I use a Lee Hand Prime (although the RCBS is nicer) to prime the now clean, prepped, and DRY Brass, from there it's easy to use the Turret Press to finish the rounds (charging, seating, crimping)
The Dillon is super nice and once everything is set, it's feed a case, drop a bullet, pull the lever and repeat to your hearts content. If you buy a Dillon, go a 550 or 650 at a minimum, they do have some professional grade, high volume machines available, but unless you're into thousands of rounds at a time, it's overkill.
FWIW: My first pistol caliber Presses were Lee Pro-1000's and once you got everything synchronized, they actually worked pretty well for a very inexpensive setup.
I use a Dillon 550 for multiple Pistol calibers. (although it will also do Rifle rounds)
A Redding T-6 Six hole turret press for churning out rifle rounds such as 30'06
The RCBS Rock Chucker for operations such as Resizing, De-Priming, Collet Pulling, etc.
And for .50 BMG and long rounds like Remington Ultra-Mag, I like using the Ammomaster. (it's a honk'n big press)
I de-prime all my cases using a Lee Universal Depriming die, then (usually) Pin Tumble, but sometimes I will use the vibratory tumbler, just depends...The Pins with Dawn & a little Lemme-Shine turn out MUCH nicer than dry media, but do require drying.
I prefer to lube and full length, small base resize all Rifle cases on the Rock Chucker, and I do this because I load for/from multiple Rifles, pistol rounds go through carbide dies and through a "Bulge Buster" die with semi-rimmed pistol rounds.
Rifle cases are trimmed, case mouths chamfered, flash holes reamed, etc. fully prepped & inspected, then they all go back through a wash in the pin tumbler.
I use a Lee Hand Prime (although the RCBS is nicer) to prime the now clean, prepped, and DRY Brass, from there it's easy to use the Turret Press to finish the rounds (charging, seating, crimping)
The Dillon is super nice and once everything is set, it's feed a case, drop a bullet, pull the lever and repeat to your hearts content. If you buy a Dillon, go a 550 or 650 at a minimum, they do have some professional grade, high volume machines available, but unless you're into thousands of rounds at a time, it's overkill.
FWIW: My first pistol caliber Presses were Lee Pro-1000's and once you got everything synchronized, they actually worked pretty well for a very inexpensive setup.
Tinman
.308 Win
I have 2 Lee Loadmasters. Never had a problem. Both work great for me.